“I know, it’s just…”
“You care about your friend?” Archer offered.
Zoey sighed. “I do.”
“Don’t worry.” Archer squeezed her shoulder again. “Rhys has already asked me to be careful with her feelings, and I promise that I will be. She’s running the show here.” He smiled. “I’m just along for the ride. All right?”
“Okay,” Zoey hedged, the rest of the tension leaving her face. “Don’t think I don’t really like you, because I do.”
“Stop. I know your heart is in a good place. This is all good, Zoey. Promise.”
Finally, she smiled. “You’re right; it is a good thing, and I’m very happy for you two, that you’re having fun together.”
His own smile fell as he left Zoey behind and he headed back toward the poker table. Elise’s words and her emotions didn’t line up. Even Zoey confirmed that. Sure, Archer got that fear built up roadblocks, but he felt himself become unsteady with his next steps. Did Elise want more? Was she just scared? Was he giving her enough? Was he truly ready to go all in with her?
“Good evening, Ms. Fanning,” the dark-haired driver said the moment Elise left the loft and met him outside at eleven-thirty sharp. He wore an all-black suit, looking like a security guard and not a driver.
Maybe Phoenix security? “Good evening,” she said, wearing the same outfit she was in earlier, but she’d freshened up her makeup, and Hazel had helped curl her hair in big waves.
He opened the back seat door for her. “There’s a box there for you.”
“Thank you,” she said, sliding into the leather seat of the Mercedes.
He shut the door behind her, and she noticed there was a privacy divider separating her and the driver. She heard his door shut and the engine start before she reached for the rectangular box next to her. When she lifted the lid, she breathed, “Wow.”
She took out the stunning Venetian metal gold-and-black masquerade mask with a black ribbon. The weight of it, the intricate details, it was the most beautiful mask she’d ever seen in her life. It occurred to her then that Archer had picked this specifically for her tonight, and to know he was likely fantasizing about her in this outfit, only made it all the more special. She set the mask aside, pulling out exquisite black lace lingerie with matching thong, garter belt, and stockings. The sudden throb between her thighs had her squeezing her legs together for friction. She wasn’t sure what that said about her that one look at this lingerie turned her on, but she wasn’t overthinking it either. Beneath the lingerie were black stilettos and a long black trench coat. And at the very bottom was a tube of dark-red lipstick.
“We’re about fifteen minutes away, Ms. Fanning,” the driver said over the speakers.
“Okay, thank you.” The intercom clicked off, and Elise set to undressing and redressing in the lingerie.
By the time they rolled to a stop and the driver turned off the car, Elise was just finishing applying the lipstick using the camera on her phone as a mirror. She quickly rubbed her lips together, giving herself a quick look in the camera, not even recognizing herself. While she didn’t get a great look at the lingerie on her, she felt sexy. Far sexier than ever before. And the mask plus the lipstick…God, who am I? She set the lipstick down and tied her coat shut right as the driver opened the door.
He held out his hand, and as she took it, climbing out of the car, she also took in the mansion he’d brought her to. “Where are we?” she asked him.
He gave a knowing smile. “I’m afraid I cannot give out that information, ma’am.” He gestured her forward, releasing her hand. “Please enjoy your evening. I’ll be waiting for you here when you’d like to go home.”
“Thank you.”
As he headed back to the car, she moved toward the grand porch steps where warm lights greeted her, as well as a security guard with an ear communicator in his ear.
“Your pass, please?” he asked.
She hesitated, but then remembered the card Archer had given her earlier. She took it from her purse and offered it.
He scanned the card with a black light, obviously looking for a symbol she didn’t know was there, then he opened the door, pocketing the card. “Enjoy your night.”
“I suspect I will.” She smiled and entered the mansion, feeling like she did not belong there one bit. Whoever owned the place was loaded, and not just a little, but stinkin’ rich. Marble covered the floors. A grand staircase of old hardwood led to the upstairs. Fancy art decorated the walls. A pleasant scent of potpourri carried through the space. Not a spot in this house wasn’t thought about and decorated to showcase the wealth of the owners.
“May I take your coat?” a tall shirtless man wearing only dress slacks asked.
“Sure, thank you.” She undid the buckle, then slid out of the coat and handed it to him.
He gave her a long look over, appreciation in his eyes. Apparently, Archer chose her lingerie just right. “Please let me know if you need anything tonight,” he said before turning away.
She nearly called after him to ask him what she was supposed to do now, when a sensual moan came from her left. She moved in that direction, entering a sitting room, finding a couple in a hot sixty-nine position while a few others watched. None were Archer. They paid her no attention, so she paid them none either, walking to the next room. She passed a waiter, taking a champagne glass as she went. Her heels clicked against the marble floor as she spotted a pool table, where a woman was pleasuring another woman with her mouth. She realized this wasn’t like Phoenix in the way people watched. This was more…intimate. Playful, even.
Moving along, she strode by one room, where a crowd had gathered. But seeing long strawberry-blonde hair, she quickly looked away and moved along. She’d recognize that hair anywhere. Zoey. And the black-haired man she rode with earnest was without a doubt Rhys. An odd sensation followed. Not arousal; it just never came. But a peculiar sense of happiness for Zoey. She was living her life, sensually and alive, and while Elise had no intention of watching them, she also didn’t feel as perturbed as she had thought she would.
Every room she passed had more people, more sex, more eroticism, and it tickled across her flesh as she made her way down a hallway. A quick look outside, and she saw Archer, wearing his black slacks and a black mask and nothing else. Heat and need drove her to open the door and go to him.
The second he saw her, he rose. She saw the flex of his hands, the way his eyes followed her every move.
“When I picked that outfit for you,” he said. “I thought you’d look beautiful, but Elise, goddamn it, you look fucking stunning.”
“Thank you,” she said, scanning over the hard line of his jaw, his sculpted chest to his six-pack. She wanted her hands on all of him, and her mouth. “You just make me hungry.”
“Well, then, let’s get you fed.” His mouth twitched as he took her hand and then led her down a pathway that opened to a gorgeous spa oasis. The kidney-shaped hot tub was surrounded by large boulders and greenery, making her feel like she’d stepped into a natural hot spring. Next to the hot tub was a beach bed with long white drapery blowing in the slight breeze.